Incoming: laptops powered by typing

Australian researchers have devised a way in which your laptop computer can be charged simply by typing on it, but could it spell the end for the much loathed power cable?

Google’s Chromebooks may boast amazing battery lives, but this is the dream: a laptop that’ll never die. How? Because it’s powered by your typing.

And it could be closer than you think. Australian researchers have found a way to harness the energy of your typing to power your PC's battery.

It’s called piezoelectricity, and is similar to cigarette lighters that create a spark by striking a piezoelectric crystal.

Here’s how it’d work: a much thinner layer of piezoelectric material would have to be developed using nanotechnology, so it could be spread over the keys. It’s the result of a study at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Other possible uses could include in running shoes, charging mobile phone batteries, or converting blood pressure into a power source for pacemakers.

Another benefit to powering laptops through typing: you could see which of your colleagues isn’t doing any work, as their computer would die.